Asleep Underwater
by icecherie
Summary: PostEclipse: My take on it. Jacob finds his fate, and Bella ends hers, Edward realizes that sometimes what we want, isn't something we're meant to have. Their story has altered destiny and the price to pay is hefty. Asleep underwater as their tales unfold
1. Breathing New Air

Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my very first fanfic and it's based on Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series (because like all of you, I can't get enough of those delicious books) All characters, save my own, are hers. I would love it if you let me know what you think of it so far. Please feel free to review or even leave a one word comment, anything to keep me going!

Asleep Underwater is what I think happens after Eclipse, the beginning, Breathing New Air, is of Jacob's POV. I'm not a terribly big fan of him but in my "idea," I wanted to start off my Post Eclipse fanfic with him.

Yours truly,  
-icecherie

Title from David Usher's beautiful song, "Alone in the Universe."  
Rated T for coarse language (c'mon it's Jacob we're talking about) and some possible other certain scenes later on in upcoming chapters ;). I don't think this is going to be _thrusty_, haha, so it shouldn't be rated M.  
**Chapter 2 **_Fire & Passion_** is up! Sneak preview on BellaxEdward in the end.**

* * *

Asleep Underwater  
Chapter 1: Breathing New Air

_Jacob _

Where in the world was I?

I slowly walked up the path. Sometime in the late night I had phased back into human form because it had gotten harder to breath. As I took gigantic lapses of air, I saw the clearing. I could've sworn this was some scene from an old 'Wild Wild West, cowboy movie. I was in the middle of fucking nowhere.

Something in my core stirred and I winced in pain. Instantly I knew what it was, the pain came upon me whenever I felt rage. When I first phased there was something deep within me that I still cannot explain. My brothers know about it, they've all got the devil in them themselves too. Sam, most of all, knows all about it. His escaped on Emily not too long ago. This thing, it's always had some amount of control over me. I've tried again and again to be rid of it and it won't go away, instead it resides within me. It captivates all my feelings, mostly of rage, and they're all uncontrollable. It's been in me ever since, and it's deep. It's pretty deep. I remember feeling depressed, angry almost after I phased. Well, maybe, yeah, I was angry. Heck, I was out of my mind. This demon inside of me wanted to consume every bit of my own flesh.

I could feel the demon now, feel it on the verge of lashing out of my core. If I could only stop thinking about her, if I could only…forget her, the demon would go away. It's so hard, I couldn't find it in myself to do it. I had run until the moon sailed up and went back down, and the sun was setting again just now. Throughout the entire time I was running I tried to release myself from her. I didn't want to think about her anymore, even her name, or her beautiful face in my mind would trigger so much hatred. Not for her, _never_ for her…but for that leech, that filthy bloodsucker. If I could, I'd kill him right now. I'd run back the way I came and bite at every last piece of the goddamn stone he's made up. Oh, how I'd twist my fangs into his weakspot, he'd thank his bloodsucker brother for teaching me that. Ha.

No, no. Breath. I put my hands on my knees as I faced the ground and exhaled. Inhale. Exhale. The demon inside of me crawled back into the darkness where it belonged. I can't go back and kill him, I told myself. I don't know the way back. I don't know where the fuck I am. Agitated, I stripped off my boxers and phased back into a wolf.

I looked around and saw that from where I stood there was a highway leading off the path. I looked around for some signs to see where I was but there wasn't anything. Some lousy highway. It must be the one-oh-one. Obviously. But where am I?

The highway was empty so I didn't phase back and began to race along the road. A small bridge at the next exit came into view, it was small. I could see the shape of a large group of people crowding around it. The bridge faced Lake Pleasant, of this I'm sure. There were cruise boats everywhere. Where the hell did all these people come from?

It was almost dark when I phased into human form once again and put on the pair of boxers I had held onto with my teeth. Thank god, I only managed to make one hole. I smiled at the thought. I was still half naked but who gives a shit. The people here would have to assume I went for a little swim, and if they didn't, then that's their goddamn problem. I walked over to the bridge and a couple of eyes looked my way but turned back around. A lot of cars were parked off on the road and a lot more people had gathered now coming from god knows where to this bridge and lake in the middle of nowhere.

It must be the fourth of July. I suddenly wondered what the boys must be doing right now. My brothers… the pain of thinking about them was immense. Had they heard all my thoughts? I had blocked out all the of theirs after the first nightfall and when I tried to read in again, I didn't hear anything. I had really lost them.

I walked over to the end of the bridge where it was deserted and felt the wind take me. It eased some of the pain and I smiled in turn. It was completely dark now and the wind blew around noisily. I tried to listen to it. My stupid attempt at listening to the wind didn't last long as my attention went to my immediate right, there were loud cheers and shouts. My head snapped and relaxed, just a bunch of idiots enjoying fireworks. Nobody dying, and no little newborn bloodsucker being a complete asshole. Fireworks. Some fireworks they were too, real shabby. The fireworks the boys and I would stir up, now _that _was something.

Breathing deeply I climbed up and raised my hands like DiCaprio in Titanic. As I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, I swear I felt my heart tug backwards and pull me back before I heard the words.

"Hey, hey you!" Someone spoke from behind me. I assumed from the melodic tune of the voice, it was a girl. But you never know these days. "Look, there's lots of kids here. If you wanna kill yourself, do it someplace else." A bright red firework brightened up the sky.

Forks. Ha. I snorted. But she had some nerves talking to me like that. I put my arms on my sides and just to annoy the hell out of her and even give her a scare, I rocked on my heels against the railing. Even as I lurched forward I felt an automatic tug backwards. She must've walked off because I heard the sound of her heels trail off. Heels. Ha, girls these days. Bella would never wear heels, she couldn't keep herself balanced on her own bare feet. I laughed out loud but my heart sank down to my toes as I thought of her again. The hatred for the leech was about to surface when –

"AND HE'S LAUGHING!" the girl screamed, but her voice held concern. I hadn't heard her _tick_-_tack_-_tick_ return. Why did she care? What was it to _her. _Who the HELL even was she?

I turned around deciding whether I should laugh or not and my eyes met the police officer first, so I eventually laughed. His head was arched way up to look at me, what sadness. "It's alright son, we're here. Just give me –" I laughed again but strangely, my heart tug onwards, "-your hand."

"He's crazy. Never mind officer, let him be. Let him _rot._" My eyes glanced over to the person whose voice held obvious disgust next to the cop, the one wearing the heels with her arms folded across her chest.

Five or so white and yellow fireworks lit the sky and for a minute it felt like daylight had returned. Then my heart took a gigantic lurch forward as if to have me fall right on top of her, and as I saw her clearly and examined her smooth cinnamon-copper skin and long, black hair fighting against the wind and her big, almond, red-brown eyes, my breath escaped me and I felt my feet lift off the railing towards the opposite direction. I caught one last look of her face and it did not leave my mind.

_xxx _

I opened my eyes to see light shining through the white curtains behind me. I was clearly at the hospital. I sighed and closed my eyes and once again my heart melted, those red-brown eyes, so much like aragonite, came into full view behind my lids.

I felt someone lift my arm and opened my eyes to see a Nurse removing one of my many bandages. She had tied her hair up in a high bun and I thought I caught some deep reddish brown in her eyes.

She looked annoyed. "You're healing fast," she said when she saw me awake, "Awfully fast." The irritation in her voice was certainly there. The same red-brown eyes were there too. But it wasn't her. The similarity was there though, she could be her mother.

"Shouldn't you people be happy?" I asked hotly.

She shook her head in dismay and scorched me with her eyes. Like mother like daughter. She walked away before I could say another word. She didn't go too far because I heard her talking to someone in the hall although I couldn't make out the words.

Why the hell am I not out of here yet? I thought. The old Jacob Black would've been out of the hospital the minute he opened his eyes. No, I thought, the old Jacob Black would've never made it to the hospital at the first place. Home did all the mending just fine. I sighed.

If I was going to leave, I was going to see that girl first. I didn't know when I made that decision but it felt like a personal command. I sat up on the bed ready to get off and leave so I could think of possible ways to follow that Nurse home and the thought baffled me. What's wrong with me? Follow a Nurse home? This wasn't me, Paul would never leave me alone if he found out... And suddenly her face and her hair against the wind came back to my mind and I fought every reasonable thought out of my mind. I made my decision to follow the girl's mother after she was done her shift and just then my heart thumped so loud, I never heard it so loudly before.

I caught the sight of long black hair from the corner of my eyes and instantly faced to see her. She wasn't the figment of my imagination, she was actually there, not in my mind, but there, and I knew that even at the entrance of my thoughts, she'd be there too.

She was standing against the door, her waist long hair curled near the bottom. She wore a green blouse and dark jeans. She was wearing buckled heels and her aragonite eyes shone with sympathy, her lips were slightly parted and already, I knew her cheeks would be soft. Her hands were entwined as she titled her head and said something.

I didn't make out what she said. My heart had decided to murder my eardrums at that exact moment.

Again she said something and I didn't hear her. I shook my hand and clamped my ears, I thought about ripping them off and burning them. My heart would face the same fate if it didn't stop its deafening ringing.

She took a step closer and looked worried, I could tell she was about to call the Nurse for help so I ran next to her. I had to let her know I wasn't insane. This was all so embarrassing, I could feel the heat in me burning every part of my system. Even in her heels she came up to my elbow and I peered down at her wide glowing eyes and reached out to hold her slender arm, _oh_ her arm.

The moment I touched her, my heart escaped me. I felt the whole ground shake. Suddenly I had a hundred bricks on me as I fell down on my knees and my forehead crashed into the floor in front of her and she took several steps back. She broke into a run as I felt the demon in me snarl but I fought it and I tried to yell after her. _No. Don't go._

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Author's Note: To continue or not to continue, that is the question. I'll probably continue anyway, I'm dying to finish this! 


	2. Fire & Passion

_The moment I touched her, my heart escaped me. I felt the whole ground shake. Suddenly I had a hundred bricks on me as I fell down on my knees and my forehead crashed into the floor in front of her and she took several steps back. She broke into a run as I felt the demon in me snarl but I fought it and I tried to yell after her. __No. Don't go._

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Asleep Underwater  
Ch. 2 Fire & Passion

_Jacob con't  
_

"Actually young man, I can't let you do that. Your father's on his way and besides, a troublemaker like you shouldn't be out on his own…coming to this town for god only knows what reason…suicidal…" the idiot sheriff went on. Tuning him out wasn't so hard.

"Listen, I just want to step out and take a breather for a minute or two. And I told you already, I'm only here to visit my mother's cousin." I had said this lie for the tenth time this day.

"Whose information you won't give to us," he continually tapped a pen against the table.

"She's dead." I fidgeted with my fingers, "I only wanted to see the Lake and she's part of it now." I saw that in a movie once. Some woman gets cremated and they throw her ashes in the ocean or something. "It makes me sad…" I said, now looking at him with forced sadness in my eyes, "Not suicidal, but sad."

He raised both eyebrows, "So I've been told," he mumbled. I sighed and knew it was hopeless. "I can't let you out to town. There's a town meeting right now as we speak. A lot of parents don't want you here. Some think you're some sort of bad omen."

Bad omen? I suppressed laughter. Only in a town smaller than Forks would people believe in _bad omens_.

"Mrs. Uwan is accusing you of hurting her daughter," he said and I immediately sat up, "She said you tried to break her daughter's arm, but you're lucky Miss Uwan's denying any accusation on your behalf."

After she ran away at the hospital she never came back but not long after she went, the nurse or Mrs. Uwan, and a doctor came running in with a security guard.

"You're not to go near her home or her work while she's here for the summer. You're to stay away from her," the sheriff said sternly.

"Am I supposed to assume she works everywhere?" I said, hoping he wouldn't see my real intentions.

"Don't go near Woodlane Grocers kid."

_xx_

Woodlane Grocers wasn't hard to find because there was only one grocery store here. I walked in as smoothly as I walked out of the station. The sheriff was probably not the most comfortable person right now.

I scanned the place. The grocery store was nearly empty save an old couple and a woman with her baby. I maneuvered around them to head towards the back of the store and the woman with the baby eyed me suspiciously. The only cashier at the front called after me, "Excuse me, excuse me," he said as he followed after me. He ran to keep up with me, "I don't think you should be here. Please leave."

"Sure, sure," I said smiling and walked right into the back storeroom and locked the door behind me.

I found her behind a wall of stacked cereal boxes. She sat with her palms on her face looking down on the floor. She was so utterly beautiful. Thankfully, my heart didn't go out of control this time, it beat in a slow, rhythmic fashion.

She looked up at then and her red-brown eyes sparked a fire in me, she stood up instantly. "You're not supposed to be here." _Her voice_. I'd never forget it.

"I'm getting kicked out of this town and I wanted to say sorry before I left," I fought to breathe properly and managed a smile. I looked at her arm, "Did I hurt you?"

"No," she looked down at it too, "It just…burned a little at first and my mom took it seriously."

"I'm s-so sorry."

She smiled as she looked up at me, "You're awfully warm for someone who has such a cold heart."

That startled me, "Cold heart?"

She sat back down and looked away, "Trying to end your life is pretty cold hearted, don't you have people who care about you?" Sure I did, Billy, Sam, Embry and the guys, Bella, Emily and especially Seth, him and I were getting real close – Bella!

_Bella. Bella! _I thought. Bella, I thought again. For once, the first time in days I thought of her and the demon inside of me did not churn. Bella, Bella, Bella, I thought to myself over and over again, "Bella," I thought out loud accidentally.

"Sorry?" she had been watching me from where she sat.

"Nothing, just a friend…" I mumbled off. I sat against the wall next to her, "I wasn't trying to kill myself," I said and saw the nametag on her apron, "Alinta." Even her name was beautiful.

"Then what were you trying to do?" she asked and gestured to me, "Jacob," I said, "Jacob," she repeated. No one else in the world could say my name the way she did.

"Trying to listen to the wind," I couldn't believe my careless confession. Her face lit up and my stomach flipped inward, "The wind must've yelled at you as you fell."

"It sang actually."

"Oh _I_ don't know, the wind was furious that night," she said smiling. I smiled back and the moment lasted only too short as we heard something bang.

We both looked at the door, "Jacob Black, open the door, Jacob Black!" Damn, I was in for it. But nothing could stop me from being here and if I left, I wouldn't part from her. She looked at me alarmed, I didn't know if it was because she realized I had locked the door or if she didn't want to leave me either.

I didn't care at the moment if she would think me a freak and never wanted to see me again and I quickly took her hand and darted to the end of the storeroom leading to the other exit. If the cops were smart, they'd surround that exit too, but I could take them on if they tried.

Holding Alinta's hand with one hand, I took the other and punched open the exit to the back alley. Clear. I brought her close to me and with one look at her fiery eyes, took her in my arms as I ran. I ran past the road, hopped through the sidewalk and raced until I neared a tomato field. I placed her down on the grass off the farm in a forest not too far from the town. She threw her arms behind her and undid the knots on her apron. She walked by me and threw it to the ground angrily.

With her back to me, I could see the lace through her tank top. "I hate that place," she said breathlessly as she turned to look at me. I didn't know what to say. "I was going to quit anyway. My mom's wanted me to too," she said a bit more gently.

"She wants what's best for you," I said bitterly as I sat on the grass, "Which means you really shouldn't be near me."

"She doesn't hate you Jacob," Alinta said as she came to sit next to me, "She knows who your father is. Or she did, a while back, long ago. She knows who you are. She's scared. She thinks you're going to be the reason your vampire friends will come here."

"WHAT?" I yelled, "Vampire friends? Is this that whole bad omen thing?" The demon stirred in its sleep. How the hell did they know about vampires? And then it hit me, Billy wasn't the only one who knew his legends.

She looked to the ground and her hair curtained around her face, "I've told her time and time again that no vampires are going to come here. Just look at this place, this is Konstan, _Konstan! _It's the exact opposite of Forks." And it was, the entire time I was here it hadn't rained.

"I won't let any vampires come near you," I said.

"Don't tell me you hate them too."

"Don't tell me you're in love with one." I prayed on the inside twice over and over.

She laughed, "No," she said, "They just don't bother me." And I knew then that she was thoughtful. She didn't have a care in the world about what was evil and what was good; she lived with them both, seeing right through them.

"You said vampire friends," I pointed out again.

"Yeah, I'm assuming that their not really friends of yours anymore. Acquaintances?"

"Hell no. The only reason we ever acquainted was because we were both fighting the same monster."

"I see," she said, I knew she'd want to know more about this later on. The Indians in this town seemed to know a lot about what went on at Forks.

"So, your mom knows me, she knows-"

"That you've phased into a werewolf, yeah," she said calmly. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," I said.

She laughed. "Yeah, she said that might be the case. You look terribly older."

"What's wrong with me being sixteen?"

"I'm twenty-one."

"So?" I had a funny feeling she knew my secret afterall. How could she not know, she must've put two and two together.

"So I know how hard it is to fight your werewolf self even with such an age gap," she said looking at my lips and then back up at me, "It's not easy is it?"

"Absolutely not," I said, "A friend of mine imprinted on a two year old. Do you think it's easy for him?"

She laughed again. Her laughter didn't hold any traces of repulsion. It held kindness and maybe even some sorrow. "I've been fighting hard too," she said, "my human self, that is, the only thing I am."

I crouched down and looked deep into her eyes and unconsciously we were leaning towards each other, her hands against the grass and mine digging into my knees.

"I can't stop thinking about you," she whispered.

"Neither can I," I said.

"I know." Her face was inches away from mine.

"You do?" I smiled, my face going past her cheeks towards her ear.

"I do and I know why too, so just spill it," she whispered intensely.

My lips were trembling on the space between her ear and jaw as I said, "I've imprinted on you Alinta. And there's nothing I can do about it."

She leaned away enough so that her face was still inches from mine and I could see that she was deeply breathing.

"Alinta, I don't want to do anything about it." I said and the way her face looked at that moment made my heart spark. I put my hands around her waist, and leaned in to brush my lips against hers. She reacted to my touch and kissed me back, her hands traveling up my chest and wrapping themselves around my neck.

I parted my lips and she followed suit, and soon she had her body hugged tightly to mine, her one hand searching into my hair and the other entwined with one of mine. Our tongues met and I felt my insides jolt, her lips tender against mine. She kissed me as furiously as I kissed her. My free hand searched under the back of her tank top and I pressed against the lace, ready to rip them off as she fell backwards onto the ground with me on top of her in a tight embrace, and I kissed her hard and passionately. She let out a little whimper and pulled her lips apart, "Jacob, no, not now."

I rolled over onto the grass next to her, our hands still entwined, "I told you it's not easy."

We were both looking up at the sky, catching our breath.

After a moment, I turned to face her and remembered something, "Alinta, what were you saying to me that day at the hospital?"

"I was asking you if you were in a hurry to leave," she said, still looking at the sky.

"I was," I said, "to see you. But I won't be leaving any time soon." First thing first, I'd attend one of these town meetings. Vampire friends? Were they kidding me?

Billy was probably at the police station by now too, he could come with me. Sam must've driven him and these people needed a taste of him.

"Now, you're turn to answer something," she said, looking full into my face. "Anything," I said.

She snuggled close to me, "Tell me all about this Bella."

* * *

Miles away, three-hours-by-car away to be exact, Isabella Swan looked at her reflection in her future sister-in-law's full length mirror. A couple more days and she would be drowning into an eternal life, a life that she wanted more than anything. But there was something she wanted more than life itself, and she would rather die then be apart from him. Her fiancée had gone hunting for two days and she expected him home the next afternoon. This would be another long, lonely night she thought as she looked into her reflection again. Alice had bought her new nightwear, insisting that she try it out for one night and that if she didn't like it, she wouldn't have to wear it ever again. Bella looked at herself, she was wearing a spaghetti-strapped sea-green chemise, it was nothing but frothy lace all over and it devastatingly clenched to her mid-thigh. Her legs were bare from there on, she felt the sudden urge to drape a bed sheet around herself. 

Bella Swan quietly tiptoed down the hall of the Cullen home and walked into the room she loved the most. She closed the door behind her and began to advance to the triple-king sized bed, and felt remarkably comfortable in her lacey chemise as she attempted to crawl onto it. She stopped and ran to face the walled mirror. _Who knew this would do wonders_, she thought. She suddenly understood Rosalie a little more. Bella put her hands on her hips and rotated this way and that to get a better look at herself. There was a _click_ of a lock but she didn't notice it.

"If he was here, he wouldn't like it," she said to quietly to herself.

"Actually," said a low velvety smooth voice into her ear from behind that sent electric shocks down her spine. Two white hands wrapped around her and she felt cold, sensational kisses on her ear, her jaw and her neck, "I do."

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A/N: Next chapter exclusively on Bella. 


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